History

Early Life

True Form

The Burning Galaxy was destroyed through the machinations of Surtur and his Fire Demons. The surviving Korbinites decided to choose a champion whom they would follow to their new home. That champion, known as Beta Ray Bill, was successful and was transformed into a cybernetic being resembling a fierce creature. The Korbinites then massed their fleet, put themselves into stasis, and followed Bill's ship, Skuttlebutt. Bill fought legions of demons sent by Surtur.[2]

At one point during this exodus, Surtur's fire demons managed to breach and completely overrun Skuttlebutt. Unable to fight them all off, Bill resorted to opening up the airlock in a desperate move to force all of them out of the ship to protect the Korbinites. This almost cost Bill his life, but he was saved at the last second by a passing Nova Centurion.[3]

Thor

Champion of Korbin

As the fleet approached the Milky Way galaxy, it was detected by a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite. Nick Fury asked Thor to investigate. Thor was deemed a threat by Skuttlebutt, so Bill fought him. During the short battle Thor was separated from his hammer, Mjolnir, and when he reverted to Donald Blake, Bill knocked him out. Curious, Bill picked up the hammer and gained the power of Thor. Skuttlebutt landed on Earth, but Odin transported Thor and Bill to Asgard to resolve the problem.[2]

Bill claimed the hammer as spoils of battle. Odin decreed that the two would battle to the death in Skartheim for the right to keep the hammer. Bill's Korbinite physiology gave him an advantage in the lava-filled realm and so he won again - it was later revealed that Odin gave Bill the advantage on purpose, so he could defeat the weakened Thor. However, he refused to take Thor's life. Odin may have chosen that arena to further test Bill's worthiness and to teach Thor a lesson; regardless, he returned the hammer to Thor and had a new hammer made of Uru, Stormbreaker, forged for Bill.[2]

Bill's first appearance.

Solo Adventures

In the following months after he was given his hammer Stormbreaker, Bill continued to protect his people, and he assisted the Asgardians as well. He grew particularly close to Sif, who accompanied him to battle Surtur's demons.

For a brief time, because of an agreement between Odin and the Silver Surfer, he used cosmic rather than mystical powers, and Bill spent time in space as part of the Star Masters.[6][7]

Bill returned to Asgard during Ragnarok. He fought ferociously, willing to die alongside the Asgardians in the climactic final battle against Surtur's forces. Thor, though, sent him back to his people, asking him to keep the memory of Asgard alive.[8]

Beta Ray Bill found the Korbinites on New Korbin, but in danger due to an approaching foe. The other Korbinites chastised him for spending too much time with the Asgardians, and his old rival Alpha Ray tried to replace him as the race's guardian.[9]

Their foe, Galactus (as Ashta), consumed the new planet. His new herald, Stardust, fought with Bill and inadvertently freed the evil Asteroth by opening a portal. Alpha Ray reappeared, empowered by Galactus, and helped recapture Asteroth by pushing her into an event horizon. Bill then awoke in a white room, where he was quick reunited with Skuttlebutt and both were spirited back to the ruins of Asgard. [10]

While en route, Skuttlebutt began to malfunction and the Meta-Orb, which housed the spirits of the Korbinites, was on the fritz. After arriving on Asgard, Bill was confronted by Omega Ray, who was Asteroth in the form of a dark, demonic version of himself. Omega Ray then told Bill that s/he had hidden in the Meta-Orb and consumed several souls to sustain its energies, which enraged Bill considerably. In an attempt to kill the beast once and for all, Bill summoned a massive 'godblast'-type energy which killed Asteroth and supposedly himself as well.[5]

He then awoke in the body of a homeless war veteran named Simon Walters. With the assistance of the hero Spider-Man, Bill was able to take down the villain, Boar. While sharing some pizza together on the roof of a New York skyscraper, Bill tells Spider-Man his story and says that he was approached by a man in a white cloak. The cloaked figure took the Meta-Orb and then bonded Bill's dying spirit to that of Simon's body. After parting ways with the web slinger, Bill set off to find a new purpose on Earth.[11]

Led by a series of peculiar and symbolic dreams to Toronto, Canada, Bill recently encountered the Canadian superhero team Omega Flight, and aided them against the supervillain team the Wrecking Crew, who released the supernatural Great Beasts. During the battle, Talisman sealed the evil entity Tanaraq in her father's bag. Bill took it upon himself to take the bag with him into the Realm of the Great Beasts, where he became trapped and was seemingly forced to fight the demons for all eternity.[12]

Through means unknown, Bill had somehow become separated from his mortal host and returned to his mortal Korbinite body. He was also freed from the Realm of the Great Beasts, but in turn ended up as a prisoner of the Skrulls. After running a gamut of experiments on him and torture, they shot Bill down to Asgard in his mortal body with a warning that they would attack Asgard soon.[13]

Although both Thor and Balder believed Bill to be real, the Asgardians had suspicions that their alien visitor was a Skrull agent in disguise, a fear preyed upon by Loki, who riled the citizens up enough so that they wanted to murder Bill. Intervening for his friend, Thor tossed Mjolnir to Bill, who successfully caught the hammer and transformed into his cyborg form, with Don Blake stating that he 'knows a brother' when he 'sees one'. Entrusting Bill with helping Balder lead the Asgardians in their fight against the Skrulls, Bill took Don back to Broxton and returned just as the alien invaders began their assault on the city of Asgard.[14]

Bill and Balder, along with the other warriors, fought against the invading Skrull armada that threatened Asgard. He was soon confronted by a female Super-Skrull, who was in possession of an altered Stormbreaker that had been sliced in half. Overpowered by the Super-Skrull, Bill proved to be no match for it. It was then, did Don Blake arrive and, after turning into Thor, fought the Skrull himself. When the Skrull reforged Stormbreaker back into one whole, she hurled the hammer towards Broxton, barely stopped in time by Bill's oathbrother. Thor, tossing the hammer back to its rightful owner, says that he is 'needed', and the two go under Asgard to stop her.[15]

After Asgard fell down and killed the Skrull, both Thor and Bill lifted the city back above the ground as it was before. Thor then asked Bill to help him battle the invasion elsewhere on Earth, but he declines. He told them that he was in 'limbo' and was determined to find answers 'amongst the stars'. With that, Bill parted ways with his allies and returned to the cosmos.

During his time in space he rescued the Remnants from a false god, after which he met a group pf alien monks who needed Bill's protection. After arriving at their meteorite home the monk's were revealed to be Skrull's, and were the same Skrulls who had previously tortured Bill. They however had repented and saw Bill as there new god, which Bill refused to be seen as. The attackers were then revealed to be more Skrulls and after fighting the newly made Warrior's Three Skrull. After knocking out the attackers, Bill left, with the monks proclaiming they will try and join back with the others and unite the Skrulls again.[16]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Beta Ray Bill has powers and physical attributes similar to Thor's, which augment his already powerful cyborg body. He possesses incalculable strength, nearly invulnerability, immune to disease, and virtually immortal. He was deemed to be an Alpha Plus by the GaladorianSpaceknightIkon.[18]

Transformation: By tapping his enchanted hammer on the ground, he is transformed from his Beta Ray Thor form to his mortal form. For his Korbinite body, it is transformed into a cane. He can transform back into his Beta Ray Thor form by tapping his cane upon the ground or when he was in the body of Simon Walters, by pounding his fist on the ground.

Superhuman Strength: Bill is phenomenally strong. He was capable of matching Thor pound per pound in their first encounter as foes to a certain extent. Bill has claimed to possess enough strength to crush entire moons with his fists[21], and to shatter entire planets with the force of his blows.[12]

Superhuman Speed: He is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete. With Stormbreaker, he can fly at speeds faster than light.

Superhuman Stamina: Bill has superhuman stamina which can allow him to function at full capacity for many days at a time without tiring at the very least. In hot climates, his stamina is limitless.

Superhuman Reflexes: His reaction time is superior to the finest human athlete and most superhumans.

Superhumanly Dense Tissue: As a Korbinite his skin, muscle, and bone tissues had 3 times the density than the same tissue of a human being. This contributed, to his superhuman weight. He is immune to penetration wounds, tremendous impacts, and falls from great heights.

Superhuman Durability: Bill's body is far more resistant to physical injury than the body of an ordinary human. He is capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, surviving in the heart of a Sun without even a slight discomfort, and even survive at point blank range, powerful energy blasts capable of destroying entire planets without any visible physical injury.[22]

Regenerative Healing Factor: If injured, his body can heal itself with superhuman levels of speed and efficiency. However, he cannot regenerate missing limbs or organs.

Extended Longevity: In his cyborg body, he is immune to the effects of aging making him effectively immortal. When he was in the body of Simon Walters, he was the same as a mortal.

Allspeak: Thanks to the Allspeak, he can communicate with and be understood by all races.

Abilities

Korbinites excel in hot climates. Bill is a very skilled and fierce warrior and is able to detect any other Korbinites regardless of their location.

Strength level

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Transportation

Skuttlebutt, his sentient warship. It was lost after Bill had "died" and reborn bonded with a mortal named, Simon Walters.

Weapons

Stormbreaker, a hammer similar to Mjolnir. Bill can use it to fly, manipulate weather, absorb and channel various energies, teleport, and sense various energies.

Trivia

In the 'Modern Masters: Walt Simonson' book, it is revealed that Beta Ray Bill was originally going to be called 'Beta Ray Jones'. This was quickly jettisoned as, according to Walt, there were 'too many Joneses' in the Marvel Universe at that point in time.